To begin our issue this week, Guananí gives us the scoop on the new dorm being constructed this coming spring (1). Next, students frustrated with Hum protesters’ disruptions of class speak out (3), followed by visual art from long-term Grail illustrator, Suki (4) and a poem by Ben (5). Take a stream-of-consciousness ride with Misha (6) and learn about what monsters mean with Alex (8). To wrap up our issue, catch up on campus fashion with DeSastre and read about a classic first step question answered by our very own Miss Lonely Hearts (10). If you’re interested in writing for us, we meet every Monday at 9 p.m. in the PAB Atrium.

News & Features

Think back to the year before you came to Reed, to finding those glossy brochures in the mail and pushing aside your Stanford and Berkeley applications to learn of that strange and wonderful liberal arts college nestled in the heart of Portland. Recall the education they promised, an education “characterized by close interaction between students and faculty in an atmosphere of shared scholarly concern and active learning.”

Reed has a lower percentage of its student body living on campus than most small liberal arts colleges, many of which house 90% of their student body or more. As housing in Portland has become increasingly difficult to find and afford, student demand for on-campus rooms has escalated sharply in the last few years. “We’re at a point of scarcity where every bed we give is taken away from someone else,” said Mike Brody, Dean of Students. “Reed has a relatively low graduation rate, and most of the attrition is happening in students’ first two years.” In response, Reed will be building a brand-new dorm with the intention of increasing on-campus housing capacity and seeing more students graduate.

Fiction & Poetry

And the light shone in through the light, through the negative, and the sprockets could not keep pace. They tore themselves in all directions, limbs of suicidal silver nitrate turning them- selves into whispers of reflective hair bounding itself into ropes and cords, in chains, that hair. And from the acid it emerged, not revealed, but completely blank, so that not only was the current picture removed, but all traces within the mind of the event, of the day, of the moment, obliterated. It was a snake, and eventually it tore itself free from the bath of my own self resignation, my own complacency with the past, and began to crawl forward. Image after image, no longer images, but notes of condemnation branded in by the reflective light of Mars. I slowly crept backwards, but the film, the light and light, kept moving forward, this time, with almost military skill and precision. I grabbed it by the throat, and the blood rushed.

Cultural Column

This year, as threats of nuclear war fly, Nazis march through the streets, and police continue to brutalize poor people and people of color, I’ve found myself watching a lot of monster movies. As if to distract myself from the human monsters outside my window, my Netflix queue and Amazon watch list have filled up with films like Colossal, The Host (the 2006 Korean one), District 9, and Pacific Rim. And above them, good as they all are, towers the shadow and primeval roar of Godzilla.

Oct 12, 2017

DeSastre

“Who’s that high school stoner?” It’s Alli Fatone! Find them carrying their new kitten in a backpack hanging from the front of their body because the kitten likes to see where he’s going. Alli’s passions range from swimming with dolphins to Taco Bell. Their outfits range from Cat Dad to Pool Jock. Catch them in the Pool Hall wearing the best flannel and (90% of the time) jeans. Alli doesn’t like specific labels, though. They instead prefer to think of all their outfits as “gay as fuck” because they are “gay as fuck.” A motto to live by.

Oct 12, 2017

Miss Lonely Hearts

How do I take step one? This may sound silly, but how do I even begin to ask someone out? I'venever dated anyone before or anything like that, so I genuinely wouldn't know how to ask without it sounding uncomfortably awkward. Even if the person isn't interested, I'd rather still just be friends, and I'm worried that if I mess up asking them out that it'll ruin this nice dynamic we currently have!